ich question

[MrTuskfish]

There is current within the tank. Some ich will be killed by UV when sucked thru it (perhaps some won't even when sucked thru it) and some won't be sucked thru the UV at all. As long as some find fish the ich cycle continues.

What is so impossible?

Bad wording on my part. UV, by itself, will not eradicate ich. That's impossible.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Well it has still worked great. 57w is very strong for a small flow/pump, and it apparently reduces the load on the fish enough for the fish to recover.

If they have to "recover", ich is still in the tank and will return. 100% kill is the only way to deal with ich long-term.

 

[wooden_reefer]

Bad wording on my part. UV, by itself, will not eradicate ich. That's impossible.

We know that.

Just wanted to discuss why UV does not work well aganist ick.

I was suggesting the impact of the ich lifecycle as one of two major reasons, besides the bigger size vs bacteria.

 

[MrTuskfish]

We know that.

Just wanted to discuss why UV does not work well aganist ick.

I was suggesting the impact of the ich lifecycle as one of two major reasons, besides the bigger size vs bacteria.

No, everyone does not know that. There is a constant stream of threads from hobbyists on our forum who think UV will eliminate their ich problem. Mostly newer folks who have been sold a UV by a LFS.

 

[sleepydoc]

It takes some good science background to correctly address the three questions.

Not really - all you need to do is think of a tank of salt water. You take a gallon out and replace it with fresh water. Everything mixes and you have more dilute salt water. You keep doing this 100 times for your 100 gallon tank. It's pretty easy to understand that the salt concentration in the tank is not 0 at the end.

The same applies to the ich parasites, except that in addition to being in the water, they are also in the sand and on the fish. Even assuming 100% kill by the UV one can see how it wouldn't work.